Wednesday, January 2, 2019

Fresh Start to Get in the Word

Happy New Year friends! I love the new year, the turn of the calendar, the fresh start! It all seems so glorious to me. This time of year women all over the world are deep in thought. What was last year like? What can they do better? What goals should they set? How should they change? How should they keep the same?

We all want to better ourselves and now is when we are all thinking it through. No matter if you set a New Year's Resolutions, chose a One Word, or just set some goals, there is one thing we all can stand to do better on. Spending time in the Word of God.

If you have never really read the Bible, now is the perfect time to start.
If you have never been consistent in Bible reading, now is the perfect time to start being consistent.
If you read the Bible most of the time, now is the perfect time to get better about daily reading.
If you read the Bible every day, now is the perfect time to re-evaluate and dive deeper.

No matter which category you fall under, here are a few tips to help:

Get your Bible. That's all it takes. Just get your Bible. The Bible app is wonderful, I love it for on the go. But having an actual Bible in your hands is so good! It minimizes distractions your phone or tablet have and it helps you learn where the books of the Bible are. If you need a Bible here are my two favorites: the She Reads Truth Bible and the (in)Courage Devotional Bible.

Choose your Bible reading plan. There is a saying that goes, when you fail to plan, you plan to fail. When you choose a Bible reading plan it helps you to know where you are reading and stay on task. Woman to Woman offers a Bible reading plan that goes from cover to cover. It is 3-5 chapters a day. If reading that many chapters at one time is too difficult, I suggest splitting it up throughout the day. Read a chapter when you first way up, another on your lunch break, and another at bedtime. It doesn't have to all be done at once. And if you fall behind, catch up on a day when you have a bit more time. To find our reading plan, click HERE.

Find accountability. Accountability helps us stay on task. When you go to the gym alone, it can be difficult at times. You get tired, you don't feel like it, so you just skip. If you go with someone, you know they are depending on you and you are more likely to go. Having an accountability partner for Bible reading is very much the same. If you know someone is waiting to hear from you about your Bible reading, you can be more likely to do it. You can seek out a sister, friend, or a woman at your church. Woman to Woman offers accountability groups called Morning Reflections. To read more about our Morning Reflections groups and to join, click HERE.

Try a different version. Recently I heard a friend and fellow pastor's wife talk about different versions. She said how she read her Bible every day for years and had begun to notice that she was skimming over the parts that she knew so well. So she tried a different version and felt like she was reading for the first time again! If you've noticed that you are skimming or skipping parts, I highly recommend trying a different version. You could even pick your top two or three versions and alternate years. My personal favorite are CSB, NKJV, NIV, and NLT.

Try reading chronologically. If you've read the Bible cover to cover, Genesis to Revelation, try reading chronologically. My husband has a chronological Bible, Scripture is placed in the order it happened, and I love it! It is neat to read the events in the order they actually occurred. Click HERE for a chronological Bible.

We know the importance of making the Bible our daily bread. Yet we also know sometimes it's hard to get started or we go through seasons when opening our Bible can be difficult. I pray these tips help you making 2019 a year of being a woman of the Word.

Discussion:
1) What category do you fall in: never read the Bible, sometimes read, read most of the time, read daily?
2) Which tip do you think will help you the most?3) What tips do you have for regular Bible reading?

It is time for the Woman to Woman Word Filled Wednesday Link Up. We desire to connect women of God with one another and encourage each other in Christ. So grab a cup of coffee or glass of sweet tea, sit back and visit a few blogs. Be encouraged and share your own stories in their comments.

If you are a blogger and would like to link up, here are three easy rules to the link up:1. Must be a {Christian} faith post.2. Please link back to W2W somewhere in your post. (Feel free to use our button if you'd like!)3. Visit and comment on at least one other blog in the link up.

6 comments:

After having spent most of last year in the book of Jeremiah, I'm so excited to be reading the Gospels devotionally this year. I've made a schedule that will take most of 2019 to get through, but I'm eager to read the words and works of Jesus slowly and thoughtfully.

Excellent advice! Thankfully the church I was in when I first became a Christian as a teenager strongly emphasized reading the Bible in a year, so daily reading became an early habit for me. I still like to read it through, but I take longer than a year now so I have the freedom to slow down in some places. I've found, too, that different translations can shake us out of our familiarity. I'm planning on reading chronologically after I finish my current trek.

I think my biggest tip for having time in the Word is just to make it a priority. Like working out, it's easy to start off well but then peter out in a few months. But when we realize how vital the Bible is to us, we'll work our schedule around it and lay aside lesser things rather than letting our schedules crowd it out. I think changing things up helps keep us out of a rut, too - different translations, different reading plans, overview reading and then more intense study in smaller sections.

Barbara, that is so wonderful that your church made that a priority! Your tip, making time in the Word a priority, is so good! We make time for what matters to us, this should be at the very top of that list. Thank you for stopping in.

What a wonderful post for the beginning of the year. I like to begin each day with Scripture reading, but I often get in a rut. There are some favorites of mine that I visit regularly and many sections that I have probably not read in years. I love your suggestion.

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